LAFAYETTE — There are a lot of "if's" surrounding the government shutdown.

Many of the if answers reside on Capitol Hill.

If Democrats give in to President Donald Trump's border wall demands, then the government stalemate would be resolved.

If Trump continues to play hard ball on the border and declares a national state of emergency then funds could be deferred from the Defense Department.

If neither of these options happen and federal employees continue to work without a paycheck then there might be more families dipping into savings, maxing out credit cards or looking for federal aid.

All of these national ifs are giving Katy Bunder, President & CEO at Food Finders, a lot of anxiety here in Lafayette.

"Nothing has happened yet except the anxiety that it could happen," Bunder said.

The food bank is trying to put in preventive measures for what the staff foresees as a potential increase in demand from clients but decrease in supply from government-funded food deliveries.

Here's how those if's shake out:

Will SNAP (food stamps) be affected?

When government funding for SNAP, USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, expired on December 21 the allotted amount for January was already fully funded.

There was skepticism about how long the government shutdown would last — at midnight on Friday it officially surpassed the longest government shutdown, which was in 1995 and lasted 21 days.

The long term question became how will the estimated 38 million people on the program get their groceries if the Department of Agriculture remains closed.

The SNAP program has a $3 billion emergency fund, but even using the entirety of the emergency fund would not cover two-thirds of the program for a month. In September, the most recent month with data available, states disbursed $4.7 billion in food aid through SNAP.

This means nearly 585,000 Hoosiers will have both months' allowances to balance and last them until the end of February.

"My fear is that people who don't read the newspaper or watch the news on TV won't understand why suddenly the got two months' work of credit on January 19 and will assume that they will also get that in February and will make extra purchases in January," Bunder said.

For those who are going without a paycheck for the first time, Food Finders offers resource coordination appointments where employees can help fill out applications for SNAP, health insurance, or any other assistance. Additionally, the education center within Food Finders offer daily classes for nutrition and wellness as well as money management classes.

Can I still apply for family and social services?

While the funding from SNAP comes from federal money, the manpower to process and distribute it is largely under state government, which is still functioning.

Therefore state offices and services are running business as usual, said Jim Gavin, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration media director.

Hoosiers can still apply for SNAP but they run the risk of having their eligibility confirmed after the January 19 dispersion date and therefore not getting benefits for February.

Among the half million people in Indiana receiving SNAP benefits, there is a small percentage of people whose paperwork is being processed for pending applications, benefits re-determination or a reported change in case, Gavin said.

There is an added sense of urgency for those people to submit all the requested documents so that their eligibility can be confirmed before early benefits are distributed, Gavin said.

Any pending SNAP paperwork must be submitted no later than Monday to receive February benefits. Applications or cases in process after Jan. 18 may not receive February benefits.

Food banks could see an increase in demand

There's the potential that food banks will have to fill the gap when those 800,000 refrigerators get empty.

"A lot of times you can delay paying your gas bill or your light bill and they won't cut you off right away," Bunder said. "But with food there's no way to feed your family and not pay for it."

On average, 9,700 people utilize the Food Finders pantry at the Greenbush Street location. It's estimated someone will revisit the pantry nine times in a year, according to 2016-17 data.

A bigger "if," that the government shutdown might continue and therefore affect SNAP beyond February, also looms over Bunder.

Since its opening in 2016, the Food Finders food bank has recorded 2,560 people who have used the food pantry and SNAP.

"If that program were to cease being funded then the people who use that would depend solely on the food bank for food," Bunder said. "Food Finders and all the other pantries in Lafayette would be inundated with clients. That's my real concern."

Federal funding pays for fresh food

While food donation drives do help stock the shelves with non-perishables, the government ends up buying most of the good stuff.

The No. 1 request from Food Finders clients is meat, Bunder said.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), under the USDA's umbrella, works with large-scale farmers to offer food banks fresh products like eggs or entire frozen chickens in bulk.

Any of the purchases made through TEFAP before the shutdown remain on schedule. Food Finders is expecting deliveries through March, Bunder said.

"We're okay for the time being but if it [the shutdown] goes on and on it will affect the amount of food that we get from the government," she said. "Which is some of our best food."

How can the community help?

Food Finders is always accepting food donations for the pantry or volunteers to help repackage and label incoming shipments.

But, if the pantry does notice an uptick in clients and a decrease in supply due to the shutdown then the most effective gift would be a monetary donation.

Food Finders uses its own funds to pay for delivery costs when ordering shipments across the country. Through Feeding America, food banks can bid on truckloads of products like cereal or sliced bread that may have had a packaging defect but are still healthy to eat.

This food pantry version of eBay allows Food Finders to manage their supplies more effectively than relying on food donations alone. For example, kind-hearted citizens may continuously bring cans of soup to Food Finders not knowing that their shelves are overflowing with Campbell's chicken noodle but are completely out of bags of potatoes.

While the truckload itself is paid for, the transportation costs can add up — and that's where the donation money comes into play.

"We can buy food so much more efficiently than an individual can so their dollars will go so much further if they give us money instead of food," Bunder said.